A judge has criticised police for not prosecuting four thugs involved in a ‘vicious’ assault – allegedly because none of them speaks English.

The French teenagers who descended on a man ‘like a pack of wolves’ were instead given fixed penalties and released.

By contrast, a local man who was less heavily involved in the altercation was hauled to court and jailed.

Jailed: Anthony Hilton has been sentenced to a sixteen week prison term while Frenchmen were given on the spot fines

The decision was criticised by the judge who accused the police of ‘clearing their books with the minimum of effort’.

District Judge John Foster said: ‘It is extraordinary that the police decided to deal with the others whose behaviour was more serious by issuing fixed penalty tickets because, apparently, four of them did not speak English.

‘I cannot begin to understand how the police reached their conclusion.’

The allegation – denied by police – was made as Anthony Hilton, 22, appeared in court over the incident in Barnsley, South Yorkshire.

His solicitor told the hearing he was ‘concerned as a council taxpayer’ over the disparity in how those involved had been treated.

District Judge John Foster who has slammed police for not prosecuting four French youths

District Judge Foster spoke out yesterday after being shown CCTV of the incident showing the Frenchmen he described as ‘vicious cowards’ joining in the attack.

However, while Hilton was charged, the Frenchmen were given £80 fixed penalty notices, along with a local woman.

John Jones, representing Hilton, said his client had retaliated after the unnamed victim hit him.

‘At no time did Mr Hilton expect the incident to develop in the way that it did,’ Mr Jones told Barnsley magistrates.

‘The others acted more seriously than Mr Hilton.’

Rose Carr, prosecuting, had described how Hilton, of Barnsley, had punched the victim on the head and spun him on to the floor during the incident in May.

Hilton admitted threatening behaviour and failing to surrender to bail and was jailed for 16 weeks.

Tough punishment: Hilton, pictured with his girlfriend Gemm Kier, was the only one involved who was bought to court

After the case his mother, Gale, said: ‘He was not expecting to go to prison. If the others have got off then it is harsh. Does the crime fit the punishment?’

His girlfriend Gemma Keer, 23, claimed they had been leaving a nightclub together when someone punched him for no reason.

She said: ‘He knocked him down and these French lads, who we didn’t know, came up.’

She claims that the Frenchmen said in broken English, ‘we saw what happened before’, then waded in.

She added: ‘Tony only threw one punch but the French lads were really giving the guy on the ground a kicking.’

A spokesman for South Yorkshire Police denied language had been a factor in the decision and said Crown Prosecution Service guidelines had been followed.

The Frenchmen, two aged 18, one 17 and one 16, had no previous convictions and were therefore fined, he insisted.

The same applied to a 23-year-old woman arrested over the attack, whereas Hilton had ‘extensive’ previous offences and was ‘heavily involved’.

The spokesman added: ‘Fixed penalty notices were not issued because of nationality or their ability to speak English.’